WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1

OMG! I CANNOT believe I’m actually going to go
through with this!
It’s supposed to be just a little prank. But I have
to admit, I’m a little worried. I really need to think
about the consequences of my actions.
Because if something goes wrong, there’s a chance
SOMEONE could actually end up . . . DEAD!
YES, that’s correct.

DEAD ∆!!

Namely . . . ME! Because if my parents find out
about this stupid stunt I’m planning to pull, they’re
going to KILL me!
It all started when Chloe, Zoey, and I decided
to have a sleepover during our winter break from
school.
We excitedly counted down the seconds to
midnight. . . . “TEN . . . NINE . . . EIGHT . . .
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SEVEN . . . SIX . . . FIVE . . . FOUR . . .
THREE . . . TWO . . . ONE . . ."

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

CHLOE, ZOEY, AND I CELEBRATE!!

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I was really looking forward to a brand-new year.
Mainly because last year was filled with SO much
drama.
What better way to start things off than with
me and my two BFFs having a WILD and CRAZY
New Year’s Eve pajama party at Zoey’s house?
We pigged out on pizza, double-chocolate cupcakes,
M&M’s, and ice-cream sundaes, and then washed it
all down with soda.
Soon we were giggling hysterically and bouncing off
the walls from a major sugar buzz.
We were having WAAAY too much FUN painting our
nails funky colors and playing TRUTH OR DARE
to watch some lame disco-ball thingy drop in Times
Square on TV.
“Zoey! Truth or dare?” Chloe asked, locking her
eyes on Zoey with an eager grin.
“Truth!” she answered.
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CHLOE, ZOEY, AND ME, EATING JUNK FOOD
AND PLAYING TRUTH OR DARE

“I have a really good one!” Chloe squealed. “It’s
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SOOO romantic and from my FAVE book! Okay,
who would you rather kiss, Deadly Doodle Dude or
Hunk Finn?!"
“Oh! That’s easy!” Zoey giggled. “I pick Hunk Finn.
He’s the sensitive artist type and supercute.”
“Yeah, but Deadly Doodle Dude is so . . .
morbidly . . . beautiful and intensely . . . doodley,”
Chloe gushed.
That’s when I almost choked on my pizza.
I know my BFF is a hopeless romantic, and I love her
to death. But sometimes I worry that her TEETH
might be BRIGHTER than SHE is.
Crushing on a DOODLEY guy is just so . . . WRONG!
I mean, is that even a REAL word?!
If I was going to create the perfect guy, he would
be KIND, have a good sense of HUMOR, and be
adorably CUTE (just like my crush, Brandon). . . .
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ME, MIXING UP THE INGREDIENTS TO MAKE
MY DREAM GUY

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“Your turn, Nikki,” Zoey said, and turned to me.
“Truth or dare?”
“Oooh! I have a really good one!” Chloe exclaimed.
A wicked grin spread across her face as she
whispered in Zoey’s ear.
Zoey’s eyes got as big as saucers. “OMG, Chloe!
Nikki is going to DIE if we ask her that!” she
shrieked through her giggles.
I scrunched up my face and nervously chewed my lip.
Answering a truth about a fictional guy was fun and
exciting.
But answering one about a REAL guy could be
totally EMBARRASSING.
And I was hoping to AVOID discussing ONE guy in
particular, if you know what I mean.
Which meant I didn’t have a choice.
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“DARE! Nobody’s been brave enough to try a dare, so
I’ll do one. Give me your hardest!” I challenged Zoey.
She tapped her chin, in deep thought.
Then suddenly a sly smirk appeared on her face. “Are
you SURE about that, Nikki? Requesting a truth
might be A LOT easier.”
“Or maybe NOT!” Chloe said smugly.
“Yes, I’m sure. DARE!” I blurted. “Bring it!”
Sometimes I really wish my brain worked faster than
my big, fat mouth.
Because it was quite obvious that Chloe and Zoey
were up to some mischievous, evil-genius stuff!
But there was just NO WAY I was going to
voluntarily SPILL MY GUTS about Brandon in a
game.
Until I heard Zoey’s dare. . . .
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I just stared at Zoey and gasped. I couldn’t believe
my ears.
“OMG!” Chloe exclaimed. “That’s so dangerous and
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sneaky . . . and totally the BEST dare ever!! You
GOTTA do it, Nikki!”
I immediately broke into a cold sweat.
“I d-don’t know, guys!” I stammered. “I mean, what
if I get caught?! I could get in really big trouble! I
guess I’m just a big . . . CHICKEN! Sorry to ruin all
of the fun.”
“Don’t feel bad, Nikki. I gave you a supercrazy dare.
Only the CCP (Cute, Cool & Popular) kids do stuff like
that. Chloe and I are chickens too!” Zoey admitted.
“I KNOW that’s right! Buck! Buck! Buck-aah!” Chloe
clucked.
I think Chloe and Zoey said those things just to
make ME feel better about NOT doing that dare.
They’re definitely the BEST friends EVER!
To vent our frustration, we played the “Chicken
Dance" song and danced and clucked for nine
minutes. . . .
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CHICKENS “R" US

Afterward, we just sat there staring at each
other, wishing our lives were a lot more—I don’t
know—EXCITING or something.
It was strange because the more I thought about all
of the mean stuff MacKenzie had done to us, the
more TICKED OFF I got.
There’s only so much public humiliation, vicious
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teasing, malicious gossip, ruthless sabotage, and
mean-girl backstabbing that a person can take.
I’d had quite enough of people who went out of
their way to make my life totally miserable.
“People” being snobby, shallow, evil girls like, um . . .
MACKENZIE HOLLISTER!!
Calling her a “mean girl” is an understatement. She’s
a DOBERMAN in lip gloss and designer jeans. And
for some reason, she HATES MY GUTS!
MacKenzie having to clean up a few rolls of toilet
paper is NOTHING compared to the very long list of
horribly rotten things she’s done to US.
And she's hurt other people too. It was HER fault
Brandon almost moved to Florida.
“You know what, guys? I’m STILL pretty angry
about MacKenzie locking us in that storage closet
right before we were supposed to skate in the
Holiday on Ice show!” I fumed.
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“Yeah! If she'd had her way, we’d still be in there!”
Chloe griped. “Until someone found our skeletons!”

ME, CHLOE, AND ZOEY,
NOT LOOKING VERY CUTE AFTER BEING
LOCKED IN THAT STORAGE CLOSET FOR
THREE VERY LONG YEARS!!

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“You’re right! And THAT was the last straw! I’ve
changed my mind about the dare. I’m going to do it!
But only if you guys come with me,” I announced.
“We’ve got your back, girlfriend!” Zoey said. “This
isn’t a dare anymore! It’s PAYBACK! I’ll get the
toilet paper!”
So right now I’m locked in Zoey’s bathroom, writing
all of this in my diary.
And instead of doing the sleeping part of our
sleepover, we’re secretly planning the Great Toilet
Paper Caper.
The good news is Miss Thang (also known as
MacKenzie) is FINALLY going to get just what
SHE deserves ∞!!
The BAD news is IF my parents ever find out about
this, I’M going to be DEAD MEAT!
I can’t believe it’s only thirty-seven minutes into the
new year and I’m already FREAKING OUT.
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One thing is very clear.

WAAAAAAY

THIS year is going to have
more DRAMA than LAST year.

∆!!

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 2
Have you ever had a REALLY bad feeling about
something?
And inside your head a little voice is screaming,
“NOOOOOOOO! Stop! Don't do it!"

Well, that little voice was warning ME that
our Great Toilet Paper Caper was going to be a
complete and utter

DISASTER!!

But did I listen? Of course not!

Although, I have to admit, part of me wanted to
just call the whole thing off.
Sneaking out into the cold, dark night to wreak
havoc on the world sounded exciting. But we could
have had just as much fun staying inside doing all of
the normal sleepover stuff.
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You know, stuff like . . .
Crawling into my warm and cozy sleeping bag and
PRETENDING to be asleep.
While my BFFs giggle uncontrollably and pour water
on my hand to try and make me pee my pants.

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Stealing Chloe’s overnight bag and raiding Zoey’s
underwear drawer while they’re both busy brushing
their teeth.
Then secretly stuffing everything in the freezer.

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Taking turns SCARING ourselves to death by telling
superSPOOKY stories in the dark by flashlight.

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But another part of me—a very dark and primitive
side—wanted DESPERATELY to get even with
MacKenzie.
The thought of being a teen rebel with a cause
seemed so COOL. At the time, anyway.
Although I’d been to MacKenzie’s house before,
purely by accident (OMG! THAT’S a long and
gut-wrenching story!), I didn’t realize she lived
only a few doors down from Zoey.
I felt a little better about the whole thing knowing
we didn’t have to walk very far in the dark.
Zoey and I found flashlights and gathered up rolls
of toilet paper.
But Chloe was no help whatsoever.
She just sat in front of the mirror humming “Girls
Just Want to Have Fun” while making up her face to
look like a bunny.
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“Um . . . Chloe . . .” I gawked at her in confusion.
“You realize we’re not going to a costume party,
right?”
“Hey! I know what I’m doing,” she assured me. “If
we get caught, do you think the cops will arrest
an adorable little bunny and throw her in jail? Of
course not! But I’ll definitely come and visit you and
Zoey in the slammer.”
Okay! NOW I was starting to get a little worried.
As we trudged through the snow to MacKenzie’s
house, it was pitch-dark and eerily quiet. All we
could hear was the crunching of the snow underfoot
and our heavy breathing.
I had to resist the urge to turn around and run
screaming back to my warm and safe sleeping bag.
Finally we reached MacKenzie’s house, and it was
just like I had remembered.

GINORMOUS!!
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Suddenly my stomach felt superqueasy.
Only, I didn’t know if it was all the junk food I’d
eaten earlier that night, OR the fact that I was
very close to finally getting a meet-’n’-greet with
some of my favorite rap artists who were doing time
in prison.
As a fellow INMATE ∆!! YIKES!!
“Come on! Let’s get this done before somebody sees
us,” I whisper-shouted.
Zoey took six rolls of toilet paper out of her
backpack and tossed them to Chloe and me.
Chloe and Zoey ran toward a huge tree on the left,
and I ran toward one on the right.
Then we frantically tossed the toilet paper over the
branches until the two trees looked like towering
twenty-foot mummies.
OMG! It was such a RUSH!! . . .
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It was the most FUN we’ve had together since . . .
um, yesterday.
Suddenly the porch light flicked on ∆!!
“OH, CRUD! Someone’s coming outside!” I shouted.
“HIDE!!”
We quickly dove into some nearby bushes and then
cautiously peeked out.

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The front door opened, and we saw a figure walk
down the sidewalk.
“Hurry up and go potty already, Fifi! It’s freezing
out here!” said a very familiar voice.

It was MACKENZIE
∆!!
OH, CRUD! I'm going to have to finish writing this
diary entry later. I'm trying to vent about some
VERY personal and private stuff and my MOM just
barged into my bedroom without even knocking!
She said that for Family Sharing Time, we’re all
going with Brianna to see the latest Princess Sugar
Plum movie.
And then we’re having dinner at Queasy Cheesy.

AGGGGHHHHHH! SPLAT!!
That was me BARFING!
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I don’t know which I HATE more, Princess Sugar
Plum movies or Queasy Cheesy!
I guess I’m STILL traumatized by that time
MacKenzie videotaped Brianna and me dancing at
Queasy Cheesy and put it on YouTube.
Gotta STOP writing in my diary even though I don’t
want to!!

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

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